Sensational tie in second Twenty20 match in Sri Lanka

A much improved effort by Hong Kong saw them battle to a thrilling tie against a strong Sri Lankan Cricket Board XI in the second match of Hong Kong's pre ACC T20 Cup 2011 tour to Sri Lanka. The match was played at the Tyronne Fernando Stadium in the township of Moratuwa, about 8 miles to the south of Colombo. The ground, now in a rather sad state of disrepair, is a former test venue, having hosted 4 test matches in 1992 and 1993.

Overnight rain had drenched the ground, resulting in a prolonged delay to the start of the match, scheduled for 10AM. When play finally got underway in steamy conditions at 2PM, Hong Kong elected to bat after winning the toss.

Hong Kong's opening pair of Irfan Ahmed and Babar Hayat immediately got down to their task of getting the innings off to a good start, and they did this to good affect with a number of shots to and over the boundary. Babar was the first to fall with total on 28 after only 2.4 overs and Irfan fell for a well-struck 28 from 13 balls when the total reach 44 after 4.3 overs. A 41-run partnership between skipper Jamie Atkinson and Courtney Kruger lifted the total to 85-3 off 11.2 overs when Atkinson fell with his personal tally on 28. Nizakat Khan was caught behind first ball but the momentum continued as Kruger (21) and Waqas Barkat (25) pushed the Hong Kong total past 100. Another solid innings from Kinchit Shah (19*) lifted Hong Kong to a final tally of 141-6 from their 20 overs.

For the SLCB XI, Madusanka, Munaweera and Pathirana picked up two wickets each.

A quick turn around saw the teams out in the field within 15 minutes. Hong Kong started well with opening bowlers Aizaz Khan abd Nadeem Ahmed restricting the powerful SLCB XI's openers to 20 runs from the first three overs. Nadeem grabbed the first breakthrough in the fourth over, with Nizakat Khan taking a well judged catch in the deep off Munaweera. Shortly afterwards, however, Nizakat spilled a straightforward opportunity off the bowling of Asif Khan that was to prove costly as Buddika made the most of his let off by lashing 35 runs off the next 10 deliveries he faced, including 3 fours and 3 sixes. Buddika finally fell for a well-struck 57 off the final ball of the 18th over, with the SLCB XI looking well placed at 128-3.

Asif Khan bowled a sensational 19th over - grabbing three wickets and conceding just two runs - that left the home team needing 12 runs from the final over. Irfan Ahmed was thrown the ball and he bowled very well to restrict the batsmen to five runs from the first five balls, leaving the home team needing a six to snatch a tie. That they achieved as Udara managed to get under a full ball and loft it over the mid-off boundary in a thrilling finish to the game.

Asif Khan picked up 3-26 from his four overs, having come back well and bowling under pressure after conceding 14 runs off his first over. Irfan Ahmed claimed 2-31 off his four overs while Nadeem Ahmed was the other wicket taker.

It wasn't possible to play a sudden death tie breaker as the heavens opened as the players left the field, in a case of immaculate timing.

At Moratuwa: Hong Kong XI 141-6 from 20 overs (Irfan Ahmed 28, Jamie Atkinson 28, Courtney Kruger 21, Waqas Barkat 25) tied with SLCB XI 141-6 from 20 overs (R Buddika 57, Y Lanka 49; Asif Khan 4-0-26-3).